Page:Equitation.djvu/412

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these, there are the moral causes, defects of temper, violence, nervousness, a restive nature.

If the rearing is the result of sore gums or defective eyesight or of weakness in the muscles of the loins, the remedy is treatment of the eyes and mouth by a veterinarian or progressive education at the hands of a trainer to develop the weak spot. If the bars are the cause, the corrective is a bit with a large port and small branches, with flexions of the mouth and neck, done first on foot and then mounted. For such other causes as saccades, improper bitting, a heavy hand, the remedy is to let the animal lose the memory of the pains inflicted on him, and thereafter to use hands and legs with more moderation.

But the rider should always remember that, whether the cause be physical or moral, the horse is able to rear only if the alternate action of the hind legs is arrested for a sufficient time for the animal to bring both hind feet forward under the body. These, therefore, acting as supports, are able to bear the entire weight. A horse cannot rear on one hind leg alone. But if one hind foot is brought forward and held there until the other comes forward beside it, then the rearing becomes possible.

Consequently, the best preventive against rearing is not to allow either hind foot to remain in the forward position, but to keep them both continually in motion, from the moment when the rider feels the first tendency to stop. But when the rider